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CHAPTER XVIII.

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ND after these things I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having great power, and the earth was lightened by his glory.

2. And he cried out mightily with a great voice, saying, Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, and is become a habitation of demons and a hold of every unclean spirit, and a hold of every unclean and hateful bird.

3. For of the wine of the anger of her whoredom all nations have drunk, and the kings of the earth have committed whoredom with her; and the merchants of the earth have become rich from the power of her luxuries.

4. And I heard another voice from heaven saying, Come forth out of her, my people, that ye become not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.

5. For her sins have reached even unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.

6. Render unto her even as she rendered unto you, and double unto her double according to her works; in the cup that she mingled mingle to her double.

7. How much she glorified herself and lived luxuriously so much torment and mourning give her, for in her heart she saith, I sit a queen, and a widow I am not, and mourning I shall not see.

8. For this reason in one day shall her plagues come, death and mourning and famine, and she shall be burned up in the fire; for strong is the Lord who judgeth her.

9. And the kings of the earth shall weep for her and wail over her, who have committed whoredom and lived luxuriously with her, when they shall look upon the smoke of her burning;

10. Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Woe, woe, that great city Babylon, that strong city; for in one hour is thy judgment come.

II. And the merchants of the earth shall weep over her, because no one buyeth their merchandise any

more;

12. Merchandise of gold and of silver, and of precious stones and of pearl, and of fine linen, and of purple, and of silk and scarlet, and of all thyine wood, and every vessel of ivory and every vessel of precious wood, and of brass, and of iron, and of marble;

13. And cinnamon and incense, and ointment and frankincense, and wine and oil, and fine flour and wheat, and beasts of burden and sheep, and horses and carriages, and slaves, and souls of men.

14. And the fruits of the desire of thy soul have departed from thee; and all fat and splendid things have departed from thee, and thou shalt find them

no more.

15. The merchants of these things, who became rich by her, shall stand afar off for fear of her torment, weeping and mourning;

16. And saying, Woe, woe, that great city, arrayed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, and gilded with gold, precious stone and pearls; [Eng. version, verse 17] for in one hour were made desolate so great riches.

17. And every pilot, and all that are employed on ships, and sailors, and as many as ply the sea, stood afar off,

18. And cried out as they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like this great city?

19. And they cast dust upon their heads, and cried out weeping and mourning, saying, Woe, woe, that great city, wherein all that had ships in the sea were made rich by her costliness; for in one hour they were made desolate.

20. Rejoice over her, O heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets, for God hath judged your judgment upon her.

21. And one strong angel took up a stone like a great millstone and cast into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall Babylon, that great city, be cast down and shall be found no more.

22. And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard in thee no more; and no craftsman of whatsover craft shall be found in thee any more, and the voice of a millstone shall be heard in thee no more;

23. And the light of a lamp shall shine in thee no more, and the voice of bridegroom and of bride shall be heard in thee no more, because thy merchants were the great men of the earth, because by thy sorcery have all nations been seduced.

24. And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all that had been slain on the earth.

EXPLANATION.

VERSE I.

1090. "And after these things I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having great power, and the earth was lightened by his glory."

1. "After these things" signifies what was done after the last judgment upon those meant by the "harlot" [n. 1091]; “I saw an angel coming down from heaven" signifies the Divine that goes forth from the Lord in heaven and in the world [n. 1092]; "having great power" signifies which now has omnipotence, as in the heavens so upon the earth [n. 1093]; "and the earth was lightened by his glory" signifies the church now in light from the influx and reception of Divine truth [n. 1094]. 1091. [Verse 1.] "After these things" signifies what was done after the last judgment upon those meant by the "harlot."-This

is evident from what follows in this chapter, namely, from the cry of the angel that came down out of heaven, that Babylon the great had fallen, and had become "a habitation of demons, a hold of every unclean spirit, and a hold of every unclean and hateful bird," which means its downfall, thus the last judgment; also from what follows, that they who stood afar off on account of the fear of her torment said, "Alas, alas, the great city Babylon, the strong city; for in one hour her judgment is come" (verses 10, 15, 16, 19), and from the rest. But what was to be done after this, that is, after the last judgment upon these, is related in this chapter, namely, that their religion would be wholly condemned, and would never rise again. But this must be thus understood, that this religion will continue in the world because the love of ruling is so implanted in every one that it cannot be rooted out, and so long as that love is present it is impossible for that religion to come to an end in the world; and yet in the spiritual world, into which every one comes after death, it will come to an end, for then all who are of that religion and have exercised dominion from the delight of the love of ruling, do not as they previously did, make for themselves seeming heavens in the world of spirits, which is in the midst between heaven and hell, and dwell there for a time, but as soon as they arrive there they are sent away and cast into their hells. This is what is meant by the destruction of Babylon, as predicted both here in the Apocalypse, and in many passages in the prophets. Since the Babylonians have transferred the Lord's power over heaven and the church to their chief pontiff, whom they call the successor of Peter, and thus the vicar of the Lord, declaring that the power over heaven and hell was transferred by the Lord to Peter, and that it was not the Lord's Divine power but His human power given Him by God the Father, I will show at the end of the articles of this chapter that the Lord even as to His Human was God, that is, that His Human was Divine; and from this it follows that the Babylonians did transfer His Divine power to him whom they call the Lord's vicar, and thus made him a god upon earth, and that he has made his ministers deities, which can be nothing else than horrible. In the first place, then, at the end of the articles the doctrine of the Trinity that is accepted in the whole Christian world, and is called the Creed of Athanasius, also the Athanasian Faith, according to the decree of the Council of Nice, shall be examined; and here the Creed

itself, as adopted in England from the decree of the council, shall be quoted entire.

The Athanasian Symbolic Faith.

[2.] "Whosoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he hold the Catholic faith;

Which faith except every one shall keep it whole and entire, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly.

The Catholic faith is this :—

"That we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity; Neither confounding the persons, nor dividing the substance.

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For there is one person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Spirit;

But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, is one and the same, the glory equal, and the majesty co-eternal.

Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Spirit.

The Father is uncreate, the Son is uncreate, and the Holy Spirit is uncreate.

The Father is infinite, the Son infinite, and the Holy Spirit infinite.

The Father eternal, the Son eternal, and the Holy Spirit eternal.

And yet they are not three eternals, but one eternal;

Also there are not three infinites, nor three uncreate, but one uncreate and one infinite.

So likewise the Father is Almighty, the Son Almighty, and the Holy Spirit Almighty; And yet they are not three Almighties, but one Almighty.

As the Father is God, so the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God;

And yet there are not three Gods, but one God.

So likewise the Father is Lord, the Son is Lord, and the Holy Spirit is Lord;

And yet there are not three Lords, but one Lord.

For like as we are compelled by the Christian verity to acknowledge every person by Himself to be God and Lord;

rothers,

we cannot from the Christian So ħare we forbidden by the Catholic religion to say there faith make mention of three be three Gods or three Lords.

Gods or of three Lords.

The Father was made of none, neither created nor begotten:
The Son is of the Father alone, not made nor created, but begotten.

The Holy Spirit is of the Father and of the Son, neither made, nor created, nor

begotten, but proceeding.

So there is one Father, not three Fathers; one Son, not three Sons; one Holy Spirit, not three Holy Spirits.

And in this Trinity none is afore or after another; none is greater or less than another; But the whole three persons are co-eternal and co-equal. rothers,

So that in all things, as afore said, the Unity three Persons in one Godhead, and one God in three in Trinity, and the Trinity in Unity is to be Persons is to be worshipped. worshipped.

He, therefore, that will be saved must thus think of the Trinity.

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that he constantly believe

'Furthermore, it is necessary for salvation that he others. believe rightly the incarnation of our Lord that our Lord Jesus Christ is Jesus Christ.

true Man.

For the true faith is, that we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ, the

Son of God is God and Man.

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